I doubt he would struggle when he is old earning 150k a week for 20 years.

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He won't be earning for 20 years, very rarely players earn that much from when they are young to very old. He won't have bigger contract when they are young and forced to take paycut when they are old.

I doubt he would struggle when he is old earning 150k a week for 20 years.

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The thing is his lifestyle isn't the same as us, while most of us would live comfortably with 3k/month his lifestyle probably is around 20k/month, after tax etc he really has to tighten up his belt after he hangs up his boots.

I mean he is talking bollocks but that's the way he justifies it with himself. Earning more than you'd earn in Europe while having almost no pressure seems like a great deal, having your cake and eating it. He can always come back once he is bored of it in China but obviously it won't be to a top club at which point you wonder if he will bother at all.

Reading interviews of players from Brazil, often get the idea that football is a lot about escaping the hardships they see their families face and providing for them. In such scenarios, it's not really shocking to see how he feels. Kudos to him for being honest about it. It takes an insane amount of work to get to that level, its his choice what he wants to make of it. We're no one to judge.

Easy to judge these players when we will never be in the same position and have to make the decision ourselves.

He chooses setting himself and his family up for life over a competition that last 6 weeks every four years.

He could forfeit the extra 40 or 50 million or whatever crazy sum it is that he earns so he could play in that tournament only to be injured and miss it anyway, or lose the first two games and be out, or the coach might not fancy him and leave him at home.

He won't be earning for 20 years, very rarely players earn that much from when they are young to very old. He won't have bigger contract when they are young and forced to take paycut when they are old.

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It’s an exaggeration of course. Still, he is in a very unique position to earn a lot of momey and be part of history.

Easy to judge these players when we will never be in the same position and have to make the decision ourselves.

He chooses setting himself and his family up for life over a competition that last 6 weeks every four years.

He could forfeit the extra 40 or 50 million or whatever crazy sum it is that he earns so he could play in that tournament only to be injured and miss it anyway, or lose the first two games and be out, or the coach might not fancy him and leave him at home.

I think I’d do the same.

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Forget about National Team, for extra 10 Million I'd gladly change my citizenship to any country.

His right. Football is no longer just a sport for entertainment of the fans, it is a career, and a very short one at that, so if he makes all the money he needs, so be it. We can get entertainment from those who priorities trophies and glory, but still get good money.
I think of the guys in league 1 and 2, some of them, that's their job, some of them know they not getting to any kind of elite club and so even there, get the best deal you can for the short career they have in football.

He'd have a fair point if he was playing for West Brom and earning 20k pw. He started with Chelsea when he was 21/22 and assuming he played 10 years at a 100k pw salary, he'd have made 50 mn. He'll probably make another 50mn playing in China, but at the cost of not representing his country.

If I had 1 mn, I'd give up my current job and do some good. Maybe his definition of poor is different from generally accepted standards.

A 5 year Chelsea deal at £150,000 /week is worth around £28,000,000 after sneaky tax breaks etc over it’s length. That’s just 5 years and is not including sponshops etc.

He’d hardly be ”poor” unless he had Nick Leeson working as his financial advisor.

The interest alone on having say £18,000,000 in your bank account is more than enough to have a pretty lavish lifestyle considering you’d no doubt own houses, holiday homes etc outright (no loans). You’d be getting 5% interest on such a bank account so would be pulling out £900,000 annually.

That said, if being mega mega rich is more important to a player, well everyone’s different and at least he’s open and honest about it.

You also need to look at his background. Losing his father at an early age has to have a big effect on how he views life and family.
He went to china for the money and was honest enough to admit it. You have to respect that.

You can play at a high level in Europe and be set for life if you take care of your money invest it right.
All the money he's earning in China can disappear like that if he keeps on buying luxury cars and Richard Mille watches.

A 5 year Chelsea deal at £150,000 /week is worth around £28,000,000 after sneaky tax breaks etc over it’s length. That’s just 5 years and is not including sponshops etc.

He’d hardly be ”poor” unless he had Nick Leeson working as his financial advisor.

The interest alone on having say £15,000,000 in your bank account is more than enough to have a pretty lavish lifestyle considering you’d no doubt own houses, holiday homes etc.

That said, if being mega mega rich is more important to a player, well everyone’s different and at least he’s open and honest about it.

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This. You absolutely do not need to go to China to have enough to live comfortably for the rest of your days. He could easily have financial security for himself and his family while also trying to achieve as much as he could in the game. The money footballers get is staggering.

He's just more interested in being filthy rich as opposed to just wealthy. It's not unusual at all. Let's just not start acting like it's some sort of noble attempt to feed his family.

He'd have a fair point if he was playing for West Brom and earning 20k pw. He started with Chelsea when he was 21/22 and assuming he played 10 years at a 100k pw salary, he'd have made 50 mn. He'll probably make another 50mn playing in China, but at the cost of not representing his country.

If I had 1 mn, I'd give up my current job and do some good. Maybe his definition of poor is different from generally accepted standards.

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£50m over 10 year minus tax etc is around £25m.

£2.5m per year to live a luxury life in North London while putting away enough money for the remaining 50+ years of your life and look after your family and friends?

What a lot of people seem to be missing is when he says family he probably means, cousins, brothers, sisters, 2nd and 3rd cousins, uncles, aunties, grand parents, friends and so on. That’s a lot of people to support.

Fair play to the guy, said it as it is. Footballers have short careers and rarely are able to do anything other than kick a football. Nothing wrong in thinking longterm and securing the future of his family.

Given that he’s South American it’s more than likely he’s providing for dozens with his income, inc. building them homes/funding their business.

People look at 50m and think it’s a lot, and sure it is, but divided between a bunch of people over decades and suddenly it looks a lot less impressive. And that’s disregarding the fact that there’s nothing wrong with him choosing money over glory in the first place.

I think the not wanting to be poor line should read “I want to be rich”.

Which is fair enough, we all want more money, we all make decisions that benefit us for financial reasons and it’s good that he’s honest. But a man who can probably earn £150k a week in Europe certainly shouldn’t have a fear of being poor as opposed to not being rich.